Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Most Interesting Three Weeks of My Life

One of my favorite high school teachers would always quote Socrates, "The unexamined life is not worth living." At the time I thought little of this pedantic morsel and often responded with a quote from a most excellent movie, "you mean So-crates?" Despite my D in sophomore English, most likely a function of smart ass comments and failed vocabulary tests, the lesson of introspection and evaluation resonates more and more as I grow up.
On the morning of Sunday, December 13th, I packed up four shirts, two pairs of jeans, a handful of underwear and socks into a backpack and headed towards the wild blue yonder. I split the next three weeks between Boston, New York and the Portland, Oregon area, my toothbrush and iPhone with me at all times. For three weeks, I went to bed early, I went on walks by myself, I saw old friends, I roughhoused with my brother, I played with my dog, I ate my mom's food and more than anything, I thought.

Our campfire at sunset.

Emma in Central Park.

Sunrise in the Columbia River Gorge from a window in my mom's house.

Acrylic Paint in Soho.
Alice and Bob's Maine Cooncat in the West Village. In the summer he has a lion cut.

Tim overlooking the Columbia River Gorge on a foggy day.

Liberated by my freedom of mobility and lack of obligations, I traveled light, snapping photos with my iPhone as I went. Each photo connects an image to a thought like news clippings on a refrigerator. I know it's not what my sophomore English teacher envisioned some six years ago, but thank you "So-crates."

All of these photos were taken on my iPhone 3GS and the Colorcross Camerabag Filter.

10 comments:

ji3torqueo said...

While I was reading through this post I just kept thinking "these pictures look amazing!" Thanks for sharing the link to camerabag so I can toy with my own!

Glad you had a good break and took the time to reflect. I look forward to your insights and observations with each post.

Foster Huntington said...

You will have a blast with camerabag. its my favorite app. thanks for the kind words,
Foster

Pete said...

Great Post,

It continually amazes me the quality of the Iphones can output from their tiny sensors. In my experience it has been great to be able to know that when I don't have my DSLR on me my Iphone will still be able to produce an image worthy of printing someday. In the right hands it is as powerful as a 5DmkII or a D3, you sir have good hands.

My favorite apps are Tilt/Shift, Shake-it, Camerabag, and Lo-Mob. Just plenty of options to add some small touches to the images. Many times these apps just allow you to give the image just a little something to better tell your story. Excellent work on your end with both the Iphone and Camerabag.

Foster Huntington said...

Pete,
I will add those apps to my quiver. I completely agree about the iphone being a pretty powerful piece of hardware for photography.
Foster

T said...

Which lens from camerabag did you use for your pics? They look great!

Anonymous said...

I think the theme song to your blog should be "Half Acre" by Hem. Your photos always tell a short story I enjoy reading over meals.

Foster Huntington said...

T,
I use the colorcross filter,
foster

Foster Huntington said...

Chad,
more than anything I want to be a story teller and I am glad that some of my stories resonate with you,
foster

Anonymous said...

Nice to see you're still dating that nice girl from Mendham.

Best,

JP

Foster Huntington said...

we broke up a month ago, dick.